Today, it is possible for Americans who are about to go through a medical procedure to first study their options and make a conscious choice. Also, whether in New Haven, Connecticut, or elsewhere, doctors are aware that patients today are better informed than ever, thanks to the Internet. It can therefore be quite a shock when, despite being aware of all the research, patients are denied any choice whatsoever regarding the care options available to them. While it may be thought that the doctor, being a specialist, might understand better the positives and negatives of the various options, this is unfortunately not always the case.

In Staten Island, New York, recently, a woman was compelled to deliver by cesarean section despite her apparent preference for a vaginal birth. The woman, who had undergone a c-section for her first two deliveries, had decided to opt for the VBAC in order to lower the time it would take her to recover following the birth. However, the doctors attending to her allegedly ignored this and delivered her baby through a c-section, in the process causing the woman injury. She has, as a result, filed a lawsuit against the hospital accusing them of medical malpractice.

As is usual with such a lawsuit, in addition to the physical suffering, the patient also has to bear the additional burden of establishing that the procedure was indeed not the best possible. In the case of the woman, the opinion of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is in her favor, both in terms of the safety and reliability of the VBAC procedure as well as emphasizing that she should not have been forced into undergoing a cesarean.

More generally, victims of doctor errors can be reasonably assured that, with the help of appropriate legal counsel, they can receive due compensation, which may bring financial relief, if not physical or emotional.

Source: Inquisitr, “Mother Forced To Have Cesarean Section, And Now She’s Suing,” May 14, 2014